Drive side specifically. Small crack, bit of the material bonding them together is missing too, creaking like hell – despite being taken apart/greased/new bb, different cleats/pedals shoes etc. it’s defo the drive side crank creaking.

Has anyone had this issue or failure and any joy outside of warranty? I’ve had these 4 years, not been hammered, but ridden through winter.

I think I know the answer…… 😩

There was another thread about this a couple of months ago, do a search and you might find a positive answer I think! Hope this helps. @beagle

Shimano Crankset Failures: An Engineering Analysis

Thanks both. Doesn’t look good reading that link. Mine was also from Merlin. Frustratingly, it’s been ticking/creaking for a long while now. Should have got myself into gear earlier in fault finding.

New crank I think 😬 Expensive error that!

Some importers/shops have been honouring the warranty for failures like this well outside of the normal period.

Not in all cases though, seems to be a bit hit and miss.

Thanks Mert. I’ll see what Merlin come back with. Frustrated a bit with Shimano this weekend. Flippin’ wandering bite point on my XTs too!

Get in touch with Merlin.
My 6 year old Ultegra cranks cracked and twisted in Jan…called Leisure Lakes where I bought the bike from and I had brand new Ultegra cranks free.

Fingers crossed you get someone helpful at Merlin.

If not, it might be worth trying again via another channel (phone vs email).

This happened to an Ultegra crank of mine a while back – despite it being 2 years old they honoured the warranty – worth a try…

Merlin didn’t give much joy when my ultegra did the same. Madison weren’t helpful either.

I’m afraid that the modern, hollowtech cranks all seem to suffer from this issue. I know of a couple of people who’ve had Ultegra R8000 cranks snap, and I’ve even managed one myself. Sadly, it was on a s/h bike so no recourse to get them warrantied, but they cracked half way down the D/S arm and bent!

I’m afraid my next cranks won’t be Shimano as a result. Big fan of Rotor which my son has on his race bike and are lovely to work with.

Thanks again all. Short shrift from Merlin today. I’ll maybe try Maddison on the off chance or phone Merlin. Thanks for the advice. When you buy the top end stuff I always used to be assured of it lasting. Had an XTR crank which saw years of reliable service.

The rotor crank looks like a good place to start for a replacement.

Cheers!